“I Have Entered Into My Glory”

I climbed the stairway to heaven. The steps themselves were hardly heavenly, rough and dark stony steps with deepest shadows forged beneath the brilliant white light from above. The steps were splatters of high-contrast black and white scarcely taking the shape of steps at all. I had never thought about these colorless, coarse steps until now.

During my meditation, the trip took little time. I quickly climbed the steps and entered the brilliant light of the Lord’s throne room. There I prostrated myself before Him, not unlike a knight before his king. This meditation had always gone this way. Always.

One day a surprise awaited me. As I stepped into what should have been the throne room of the Most High, I found myself somewhere else. Somewhere quite different and most unexpected. I did not enter the brilliant light but rather a simple, warmly lit room full of somehow familiar bearded men—not one prostrate. In the center of the room, Jesus washed the feet of His disciples. He looked me directly in the eye and with the brightest grin I could imagine, He said, “I have entered into my glory!” I stared at Him a long, frozen moment and then it all vanished.

I again undertook climbing the stairway to heaven. Again I quickly scaled that rugged way. And I was comforted to enter the thrown room and see the brilliant light. But before I could bow before the brilliance, I noted two others kneeling with heads bowed. Jesus and His mother worshiped before the throne of the Father. And though He did not look my way, though He didn’t utter a word, the words were nonetheless present: “I have entered into my glory.” After staring another long moment, the scene again vanished and transported back down that rugged stairway.

This time I paused at the foot of that great and rutty and twisted stairway. I wanted to go up again, but this time my mind raced as to what would be my surprise. This time I expected a surprise, so how could there be one? And how could what I find not be of myself rather than the Lord, as expectation and imagination both raced at light speed? I headed back up those steps, doing my best to think of nothing. I didn’t think of the thrown room; I didn’t think about the deliberate steps moving me upward. I was open and peace filled. I entered what should have been the throne room.

I was indeed surprised yet again. My whole universe filled with the face of a starving child. Those big dark eyes, that emaciated face. Jesus’ heart went out to him; Jesus dwelt with him and walked with him—dwelt in him, looked out those dark haunted eyes from within! Looked at me from within those eyes!

Jesus whispered deep within me, “I have entered into my glory.”

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